When you are a small school like Cal Poly, you have to play a lot of road games to cash those checks. This one starts a six-game road trip -- you will never see a Duke or Kentucky play six road games in a row. The Mustangs have been off since a Dec. 5 77-65 win over Fresno State. Cal Poly is averaging 76.5 points per game, which is just the second time in the past nine years that the Mustangs have averaged more than 70 points in a season. Cal Poly has scored at least 71 points in all eight games this season after scoring 70-plus points just seven times last year. The Gaels suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday at a good Cal team, 63-59. Boston College transfer Joe Rahon scored 16 points and Evan Fitzner 15 for Saint Mary's. There were five lead changes over the final 2 minutes, 43 seconds. In this series, Saint Mary's has won four straight. Last year, Saint Mary's beat visiting Cal Poly 82-56. Brad Waldow scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. The Mustangs shot 19 of 56 (33.9 percent) from the field.

Cal Poly is 0-4 ATS in its past four after a win. The Gaels are 4-0 ATS in their past four at home.

It's the first-ever meeting between these schools. I previewed Eastern Washington's game at Pittsburgh last week as part of this Gotham Classic and accurately hit on the Eagles not covering as they lost 84-51 at Pitt. Now we analyze the NCAA Basketball odds for this matchup. Western Carolina is on a two-game skid. It lost at Davidson 87-54 on Saturday as part of this event. The Catamounts shot just 26.6 percent from the field. Offense is largely a problem for this team. But on defense, Western Carolina ranks 12th in the NCAA in 3-point field-goal percentage defense, holding foes to 26.5 percent from behind the arc. Western Carolina is led by senior guard Mike Brown, who averages 16.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Meanwhile, Eastern Washington senior Venky Jois will play in his 100th game as an Eagle, the 16th in school history to hit the century mark. If you want a point of comparison, Eastern Washington lost at Davidson 96-86. Eastern's average of 10.4 3-pointers per game is 12th in the nation.

The Eagles are 4-1 ATS in their past five games vs. teams with a losing record. The Catamounts have covered only one of their past 10 non-conference games.

Southern Miss might be a bit rusty as it hasn't played since a 74-62 win over North Dakota State on Dec. 6, the school's first win of the season. USM ranks last in Conference USA in scoring offense (60.1 ppg) and 13th in field-goal percentage (.376). But then, South Alabama might be rustier as it hasn't played since a 68-55 loss at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 5. Last season, Southern Miss closed the game on a 21-9 run over the final 4:10 to erase a 10-point deficit to beat South Alabama 68-59. The Golden Eagles have won three consecutive games against the Jaguars in Mobile. Overall, Southern Miss has won five consecutive games against South Alabama.

Southern Miss has covered eight straight games. The Golden Eagles are 11-5 ATS in their past 16 vs. Sun Belt teams. South Alabama is 2-5 ATS in its past seven games. Keep that in mind for your NCAA Basketball picks.